1.27.2026 Tritrogs virtual meeting

Held virtually over Zoom due to snowfall.

Taylor T

Taylor O

Stephan F

Mike Y

Ken W

Mark D

Emily G

Emily F

Alan O

Peter H

Melissa B

Piotr

Brendan

Melaie

Lisa G

Nathan O

Introductions- New Years cave resolution:

Taylor T- Chair, more vertical caves

Ken- clean up cave graffiti

Stephan F- Treasurer, reminder to pay dues $15 per person, $20 per family. Full desc on Discord., take crazy instruments into the cave

Alan O- first time here NY resolution is to get back into caves

Mike Y- visit two new caves. Go back to Hamilton

Lisa G- New to NC; Used to cave in VA; goal is to get back into a cave.

Emily G- go into more caves than last year, which was two caves.

Melanie- make it to monster hall; make it 3000 ft deep in europe; go to new river

Brendan-college freshman; wants to get more into the hobby

Peter H- get more caves in than last year

Emily F- moved to NC for grad school; Caved before in VA; 

Nathan O- go into a cave

Melissa B- started last year; resolution to do more caves

Mmmmat- get more systematic to get deeper into caves

Taylor O- use Discord to sign up for a trip.

Mark and Michelle- get at least one new caver underground for the first time; Michelle has been in two show caves.

Piotr- more survey trips

Business

Low Moor graffiti clean up-Funding approved for Ken trip in May

Treasurers annual report for 2025 by Stephan. Took over from Mike the year prior. Can pay annual dues by paypal, check mailed, check in person to Stephan, or cash. Sold 21 t shirts. 5 tshirts remaining

Trip Reports 

Dec 5 to 7 Buchanan Mock Survey Trip. Ken explored one side and Melanie the other. Ken provided some description and Mike Y. finished. Camped overnight in the cave. Learned about camping and surveying. Went to Hancock after. Cyclops Friday. Matt said cyclops was great. “Athletic” cave. Challenges vertical skills.

Dec 20-21 McClung’s, Boar Hole and Low Moor Melanie presented. Took coworker. Leaf submerge; crawl of spiders

Jan 10 Scott hollow- mark and Ken went. Stayed at Airbnb nearby. Good way to go in Jan. Entrance is 40 ft culvert. Just 4 went. Matt and John also went. 8hr trip underground

Jan 16 Worleys trip-Melissa gave trip report Taylor T, Jake and Kevin went; Crawdads

Peter H also did some caving. Will make more extended program presentation. Every year does trip to TAG. Pit bouncing trip. Trip is always too short. Long drive. Peter wound up extending trip.

Upcoming Trips 

Feb 28 to Mar 1- Friar’s hole and Bone Norman- Tentative for Melanie rn. Melanie says know how to cross a knot. Mike B may still lead a trip.

Low Moor scouting cave trip in March. Mark and Emily going. Easy cave.

May 2- Lowmoor Graffiti clean up

TBD: Back of New River

Melanie will lead more vertical trips when schedule is more stable.

Elections in person next meeting

11.25.25 Nov Tritrogs Meeting

Met on fourth floor of museum. 16 persons in attendance in person

Introductions

Opening question- what was your favorite cave trip of the year

In person: Taylor T

Emily

Ken-brathing cave

Taylor O.- grotto trip

Matthew- vertical cave, waterfalls

Pete H.- Grotto trip

Jon- Clover hollow and pig hole

Jacob- painted rock river

Matthew W- vertical trip led by melanie- pig hole and clover hollow

Rudy- picked two- Worleys

Kat- Hamilton

Richard- just getting back

Jon- ocean floor cave

Stephan- picking up trash

Mark D- alabaster caverns state park. Lots of bats

Zeke

Online: Zach, Mike Y, Connor, Melanie, Mollie from PA

Business

Outstanding balances for loaner gear and t shirts

Membership fees due Jan 1^st. Cash or check preferred. Annual dues $15

Low Moor graffiti clean up- funds. Replaced ladder last year. Easy cv to get into. Drive down that morning. Camp next day then maybe another conservation trip the next day. Usually about 40 people

Trip Reports

Nov 7 – 9 Memorial day cave Melanie; 30 mi long; entered cv Friday night; Easy Dome complex; Melanie’s first bolt climb; 9hours of travel time

Nov 22-23 Hell hole 50mi long; A lot of vertical techniques created there

Pete went to Mexico; SW of Tampico; vertical caving; intestinal distress

Upcoming trips/events

Dec 6-7 Survey workshop and practice trip- half of day w Melanie then half w Ken. Learn about surveying. No cap on people. All welcome. Attempt to camp in cave. Check out the discord channel for that. Camping in cave Friday and Saturday night; Ken needs help on big sink survey Dec 07; 2 or 3 people to help

Dec 09 Cave survey online talk

Dec 13: Annual holiday party. At Taylor T’s place in Cary. Details to be sent out soon; potluck

Feb 28 – Mar 01- Friar’s hole and bone Norman; Melanie; lead a trip to largest room in Friar’s. Sporty long trip; cap on number that can attend; Mike and Lisa might be able to lead a group as well; Know rebelay and know how to cross knots; Might encounter rope damage; Parking at Norman is no bueno; face masks; crawly dry cave

May 02: Low Moor Graffiti clean up

TBD: Worley’s Date; good beginner

TBD: Back of New River

Program

Bat Biology w Mollie B. PA species, winter survival tactics, and current research; 1500 species; bat identification

October 28 2025 Tritrogs grotto meeting

(11 people) In person attendance: Taylor T, Cat, Melanie, Rico, Taylor O, Jacob, Quentin, Matthew, Matt 2, Stefan; Dino?

Started late due to elevator being down and event going on at museum of life science

Online: Ken W, Mark D, Emily G, Lisa G, Piotr, Jillian, Mike Y, Joanna

INTRODUCTIONS

Opening question: What is your creepiest cave story?

Online: Ken W- Cave that seemed to hate him. Something went horribly wrong each time

Mark- shared a story from Haunted Hannibal book. Mark Twain cave where doc did experiments using daughters corpse

Emily- pet cemetery cave; partially embedded milk jug

Lisa G- just relocated from VA to NC; bats in cave in WV

Piotr- survey in Perkins

Joanna- new to caving

Mike Y- clicking gear while climbing

In person:

Stefan (treasurer)- finding conference room and managing elevator

Jacob- camping in mines at low moor; feeling of being watched

Quentin- cave diving spot; dived at midnight; water was high enough to cover bases of trees; floated at 2am in florida waters

Matthew- times where headlamp went out, afraid of getting stuck

Rico- hopes to have some soon

Melanie (covice chair)- recommended dave sockeys YT vid on Culverson ck; other story was taking friend out who was having a panic attack, 7 ropes to get out, friends rope got stuck on rock, rock fell between her and partner.

Matt 2- spookiest thing was on the way back from windy run cave, saw eyes looking at them as they made their way back to car.

Taylor O (secretary)- shared dad’s story

Cat (vice chair)- saving her creepy story

Taylor T (chair)- in hancock during 100 yr flood; insanely loud, some folks got freaked out

BUSINESS

Elevator under maintenance for next couple months; may meet in different room while in process

Outstanding membership balances, outstanding balances for loaner gear/tshirts and distribution

TRIP REPORTS

Oct 12 Hancock- Matt presented. Went up to Marion and caved on Saturday. Bike on Saturday. Goal was to make it to funnel tunnel and explore other side. Improved steps in toilet bowl

Oct 18 Rehoboth Church underneath old 1700s church in WV. Taylor T presented. Mud slides; TT’s favorite cave

Jacob presented on New Rive on Sunday Oct 19 after Rohoboth; Found glowing slime mold

Oct 17 – 19 Fall VAR Matthew presented; met a lot of cavers; did Butler’s cave; enjoyed digging; trying to dig to another section; whole line of dirt transporting; Ken and Emily led trip into Owl cave on Butler property; also did watersinks karst preserve. Boardwalk from one cave to the next. Ken recommends subway permits provided by VCCS

Oct 18 – 19 Speedwell and Worley’s- Quentin presented; hiked at Stone mountain; then drove to numbers provided by Melanie; Speedwell has two entrances; Small cave w nice squeezes and decorations; Went into Worley’s nice and early

Oct 25 – 26 Clover Hollow & Pig Hole- second trip Melanie led

Melanie also said secret trip to back of new river

UPCOMING TRIPS EVENTS

Nov 15 back of New river- likely 10 hr trip. If interested talk to Taylor T or Jacob; melanie says you need vertical gear for small section

Dec 6 -7 Survey workshop and practice trip- led by Melanie; says open to anybody; very likely to camp in cave; pretty set on Sharps; before trip doing in town workshops

Dec 13 annual holiday party- no monthly meeting in dec. Instead have annual holiday party. TT will be hosting Dec 13 in Cary. Play fun games and hang out.

PROGRAM

Bell Witch Cave Legend w Cat Crofton in Adams Tennessee

9.23.25 Tritrogs Meeting

Introductions 

If you could bring ne person into a cave, who would it be?

Taylor T Chair- mother

Lisa (online)- father

Mark D (online)- Dumbledore

Mike B (online)- Gandalf

Melissa- (online)- dad

April N (online)- friend who studied geology

Mark (online)- friend Gina

Matthew- brother

Ken W.- visually impaired

Emily- JRR Tolkein

Diana- maybe mother

Peter- Princess Diana, OJ simpson, and Ken

Taylor- Daft Punk

Quentin- Arnold

Jacob- mom

Piotr- academic advisor

Matthew- nephew

Zeke- Benjamin Franklin

Melanie- Derek Bristol or BIll Stone

John- politicians

Jilian (online)- no response

15 attendees in person

Business-

Outstanding balances for loaner gear/t shirts distribution

Surface watch and callout times

1 Establish a specific contact person ahead of time

2 Provide the name of the cave, coordinates, general route/trip plan, and names of folks in your group

3 Give an expected callout time (ex. 6pm before dinner) and an emergency callout time (ex 8 am the following day, begin rescue)

Emergency callout:

Expect 911 will be called

Recomended to pick a time that is not the middle of the night

Providing info about cars is also useful.

Make sure to pack extra supplies anyways n case you get lost. 24hrs of supplies

Optimal group size 4 to 6 in case rescue needs to be contacted.

Trip Reports: 

Aug 30 New River and Tawneys New cavers along on trip. Made it to forest room

Other group did some squeezes

Labor day bat ranch celebration

Sept Fern survey and paint rock river cave- Melanie

Sept 6: Clover Hollow and Pig Hole Matt B and Melanie. Mike B Mike Y Lisa Jake did second group. Dropped empires ledge

Sept 13 Pre-Climb and New River- Matthew W Pilot Mountain climbed three routes. Jacob described trip into new river cave to water fall. Tuxedo junction

Sept 21 Tritrogs at Rocky Face

Upcoming Trips/Events 

Sept 27 Rehoboth Church (full) likely to be rescheduled due to weather

Oct 12 (Sun) Hancock

Oct 17 to 19 Fall VAR at Brass fields station. Ken W has a room for one more to those who are going

Nov 15 back of New River. Go through sock puppet. Jacob, Matthew, Taylor T, Maybe Melissa

Oct clover hollow trip is full

Seminar 

Melanie presented on webbing. Often 50 ft or 2 25 ft webbing.

Put knots at equal distance from each other. NCRC says 4 fingers.

Use basket hitch to create anchor for rope. You can anchor to people

Wrap 3 pull 2.

Water knot very good for webbing.

Tube webbing exists and is stronger than flat webbing. More resistant to abrasion

08.26.2025 Meeting Minutes by Secretary elect Taylor O

Taylor O 5 min late to meeting

Opening question was whether a salamander or crawfish would win in a fight. Salamander won popularity contest.

15 persons attending in person.

BUSINESS 

Outstanding balances for loaner gear or t shirts

TRIP REPORTS 

Aug 1: Culverson Ck | Annual grotto trip- Four groups and 3 entrances used

Team Pink Wildcat entrance. Cat presented. Entrance is a tibe. Can hear the water in therefound sandy trash area.Tied to make it to log jam. Unsuccessful, but did make it past the hairy place. Split up and took different sides. Matthew presented on hairy spot. Muddy funnel

Team Blue SSS Entrance Zeke and Mark. mark started of. Only one to have been there before. Lots of different ways to go in SSS entrance. Spent a lot of time going the wrong ways. Did less scary way around all the pretty stuff. Emily pointed out found easy way b/c it was labeled as less exposed way; Zeke said found way into stream canyon that was not the way to go. 

Team Green Fuller entrance Taylor O and Stephan presented. Wet. Next time bring a wet suit.

Team Orange went in SSS entrance came out Fuller entrance

Aug 09 Butler cave Boy Scouts trip- Mike and Lisa. ~20 boys and dads. Split the group in two. Mike Yang jumped in to help.

Aug 16 Rehoboth Church Matthew presented. Walls lined with blach church nodules.Proceeded w caution as walls were delicate. Thought were in zoo room but were close to entrance. Dubbed a flowstone blob as the Bell.

Aug 20 Butler cave another beginner trip- Mike B; Could hear water running in Dave’s gallery. Small waterfall; first time ewing in that room

Mark D presented on a couple caves, including crystal caverns Maryland. Indian echo caverns near harrisburg, PA. Coatskill NY, Seneca caverns ohio. Stopped at Alabaster cave in oklahoma.

UPCOMING TRIPS/EVENTS 

Aug 28 to Sept 1: New river + bat ranch party

Aug 28 to Sept 1: Old timer retreat OTR 2025; WV

Oct 3 to 5: Fall VAR  Dates changed 17th to 19th

Oct 12 Hancock- Likely full

TBD: Clover Hollow and Pighole (Melanie) probably first weekend of september, Sept 6th. Can only take 5 people max. Vertical and multi drop On esafe set of vertical gear to use. Static rope is used.

5 minute break

PROGRAM 

Report of Melanie’s expedition to Turkey. GiCCEKECEK DUDENI. University program funded.-900 meters vertical depth. 2 camps in the cave. Tight canyon passages. Mostly walking. 38 F. No surface water, snow never melts; Lots of gear. Tents for food and equipment. Helped transport gear and water to the lead belayers

July 22 2025

Taylor T opened meeting.

Introductions- What song would you put on cave playlist?

Taylor T (chair)- Song called cave by Muse

Ken W- Monks chanting

Zeke- final track on Bowie’s low, subterranean

Melanie (covice chair)- Queens of the stone age- Dont ook just keep your eyes peeled

Katie- System of a Down Chop Suey

Kat (co-vice chair) vor by sleep token

Rudy- Mumford and Sons the cave or I see fire under the mountain from lotr

Matthew- Chop suey

Stephan F (Treasurer)- In Zair

Taylor O (secretary)- Get low by Lil Jon

Eli- System of a down shout out; Night tapes- silent song

Jon- born to be wild

Quinton- something by magdalena bay

Emily- Bob Dylan subterranean blues

Alex- Moon rocks vy flip turn

Felix- Drops of Jupiter

Piotr-Highway to hell

Online: Lee-  would whistle

Mike and Lisa- Pretty Lights dubstep cover of John Denvers West Virginia; Anything from velvet undergound

Jake- *Audio difficulties*

Melissa- gloverla

Peter- Something by the Scorpions

Business

Annual Grotto trip in West Virginia Culverson Ck Cave If you ordered a t shirt, see Stephan about $25 payment. Shirts will be distributed at campsite. About 5 hour drive. Stephan says check made to Tritrogs works. Cash works too. Group campsite bringing canopy. Bring tents, sleeping bags, places to park car. Showers and bathroom one campground over. Vault toilet. Blue meadow campsite.

Trip Reports

June 28 Haynes WV- Rudy provided summary. A lot of history used to mine black powder in civil war; tubing, watched tree snap in half, gypsum formations; good cave for crystals; old planks from miners

June 21 – 29 NSS Convention, NY Stephan spoke on NSS convention; Clarksville cave, Peter added some things. Did field trip beforehand to geologic formations and history; Stephan sat in on caves for cavers all day presentation. Mark and Pete went to two local commercial caves- Hal caverns and secret caverns. Boat ride at the bottom. Went to US explorations on Tuesday. Climbing contests

July 11 – 19 Rescue Training- Melanie presented; week long 14hr days; 

July Eli’s trip Creeping pot, Stevens Gap, and A cave that shall not be named; rattlesnake; devils walking stick

July 19 Breathing Cave

July 12 Hancock, WV Update provided by Melissa Brown; wet and cold otherwise good conditions; Ken named rooms as they went through; Melissa’s fsv part was comic book hold; EMily sai first time caving for er in about a year

June 17- Mike B added trip in Georgia. Howards waterfall cave. SCCI propert; didnt do climb down

Mike and Lisa also did caves in Budapest in Europe; walked friends through full dark area

June 14- Melanie and Nick did a cave; loved puppet buster; Melanie might have stress fracture on foot

Upcoming Trips 

Aug 1 – 3 annual grotto trip Blue meadows Campground White Sulfur Springs, WV

Aug 09 Boy Scout Trop Butler VA

Aug 28 to Sept 1 OTR2025 Old timers reunion. Need a sponsor. Caving, parade, contests, survey courses; hot tubs and saunas; cave vendors

Melanie said cavefest same weekend in Indiana

Oct 3 – 5 Fall VAR RASS Field Station VA Another big event w vendors

TBD Mammoth Cave Grotto Trip, KY

TBD Buchanan Project Weekend

Taylor T going to start polling for Aug trip

Melanie said if you want a project or to survey let her know

Break for 8 minutes

Program Culverson Creek Cave; North of Lewisburg, WV.

Download offline maps ahead of time for navigation

Anticipate it being wet.

Hot outside. Cold inside

Loaner gear

Get to the caves by 10am; explore 4 to 6 hours. Come back in evening for dinner.

Group breakfast saturday and sunday

Introductions- if you could name a newly discovered cave what would you call it and why?

Zeke-certain death cave

Ken- philima kunk cave

Dianna G- new cave #37

Taylor- cave of Mexico

Kat- cats crawl

Rudy-(Mayan) something large

Jacob- full throttle cave

Eli- Reese’s pieces cave

Mark D- hole lotta fun

Melanie- nothing to see here cave

Eva D- rattlesnake cave

Sam C- snake pit 

Taylor T-Dragons horde

Stephan- Terra Nova

Peter H- bat cave

Emily- Treasure trove cave

Business:

Posting Trip Reports

Grotto trip- still working on tshirt designs and cave selections. Grotto Trip Ship Art Deadline June 15

NO JUNE MEETING (party instead?)

Officer meeting TBD

Grotto trip Aug 1st thru 3rd Possible CVs culverson Ck Buckeye Ck WVCC Others in Greenbrier Co. Tshirts submit art to Cat Crofton by June 15th.Grotto trip done every year that is beginner friendly. Grotto has gear that cn be loaned out. Loaner gear to be updated eventually. Taylor T is the person to contact. Person contacted TT for donation of gear, from Charlotte. Sat and Sunday cave likely during grotto trip

Trip reports:

April 28 : New river cave, VA. Last minute trip for TT Jacob and Matthew. TT’s car was left in blacksburg VA for a month. Goal was to get to tuxedo junction. DIfficult crawl. Speedrun to waterfall

May 3 Worleys CV, TN Jacob Jillian and Blake. Short trip 6 hours. Made it to falls back.

May 9 to 11 Spring VAR (Virginia area regional) Breathing Cave VA Very mazy. Good photos. Much talk about cannibalism and GW.

Hamilton CV, WV Cold campin n spruce knob, highest point in WV. Cat says hamilton was most entertaining cv. Fossils everywhere. Lots of crawls. Wasnt super rocky or muddy. Ended in rm w clawmarks. Bears extinct cheetah, extinct large cat fossils all present. Will have to go back for air blower.

Shoveleater WV- Very vertical, on rope most of the time per Eli. A lot of bottlenecks waiting for folks to pass on rope. On the nothing pit loop. Super fun.

May 23 – 26 New River VA

May 23- 26 TAG w Melanie and Jacob. Drove down thursday night and got in Friday 1 am. First cv was elmos canyon. Top of the mtn middle of nowhere. Had to re-rig due to being 20ft short. Didnt find second pitch where there was water. Free climbed back up. Next day was paint rock river. Brutal hike in after arriving around 10am to parking. Arrived at cv 1130-12. In cave by 2pm. 30 to 40 ft entrance pit. Second pitch was 140ft alongside waterfall. Next drop angels falls. Jacobs first time to tumbling rock for 4 hours. Crawled to empress room.

Upcoming Trips 

 June 21st to 28th 2025 NSS Convention Cobleskill NY

June 28 Rehoboth Church union WV. Capped at 8 people

Aug 1-3 Annual grotto trip, bluemeadows campground white sulfur springs WV. Ken suggested labelia salt peter cv has historical stuff and organized by WV cave conservancy. Can hit bear town otw back.

Aug 9 Boy scout troop trip, VA (Butler?)

TBD: mammoth CV grotto trip KY- Taylor T

TBD: Buchanan Proj weekend- Melanie and Sully

Break

840 switched to cave jeopardy. Godzillas vs cave sluts

Tritrogs lore; caves in pop culture (the descent); Bats- Mexican freetails; bats make up 20% percentage of all mammal species; Vampire bats consume 800 times more iron than humans; First tritrogs grotto trip was in 1990; Jesse James used caves in state Missouri to hide from lawmen; Civilization Mayans believed caves were entrance to underworld; Paleontology- this new species was discovered this year at mammoth ntl park thru fossil studies- ancient shark; Fossils found in sedimentary rock; Caving history-  amatuer cave exploration in 20th century was called spelunking; Greek  nymphs that lived in caves had bee for a body; what nearby cv has fossil alley- Lowmoor; NSS stands for national speliological society; Mammoth cv housed TB hospital; Name for fossilized poop- Coprolite; Mexican long nosed bat- pollinize blue agave; Explorer died in sand cave in 1925- floyd collins; Tritrogs logo is Trex biting caveman; Small insect eating bat is the most common in US- little brown bat; Weddelite besides caves is found in kidney stones.

Beers at Raleigh Times after meeting

In person attendance: Stephan F, Cat C., Taylor T, Taylor O, Jake, Matthew W, Mark D, Melanie, Piotr; Jacob; Rudy; Zeke

Online attendance: Maria D, Emily G, Lisa, Mike B, Mike, Blake F

735 Taylor T brings meeting to order. What is the strangest thing youve found inside a cave? If youre an officer, state your position

Introductions: Strangest thing you found inside a cave:

Online: Lisa- translucent scorpion in Mexico cave; Mike-pair of sunglasses; Mike Y- can of chewing tobacco in registry; Maria D- a sandy beach; Emily-packrat nest; 

In person: Matthew W- naked barbie dolls; Piotr- frog; Jake- cow skull on a stick; Jacob- long moldy stick ;Rudy- room of clay phallus; Melanie- bare footprints or two giant carbide barrels w nudie mags (the library); Cat-joker cards; Taylor O-century old stuff ;Stephan F- godzilla model in the godzilla room; Mark D- found Taylor T; Zeke- giant frog; Taylor T.- barbies and secret thing in Paxtons

747-reviewed agenda

Writing trip reports encouraged to show we are active. No maps, no cave locations

749 Annual grotto trip. Aug 1st to 3rd. Blue meadows campground in WV. 4.5-5 hr drive from Triangle. Still looking for cave. Group campground has vault toilets. 500ft down the road has bathrooms and showers. Bring tent and other usual camping gear.

Can do Culverson Ck but use different entrance

Buckeye Ck

Or others in Greenbrier country

752 T shirts for annual grotto trip

Submit art to Cat C by June 1st. Cat says can send as DM in Discord

754 Trip reports

March 29 Tawneys Giants and Pig Hole

Two groups on this trip. First vertical experience. Matthews first vertical trip. Stayed Friday night at Bat ranch, went to Giants in the morning. Giants is a show cave with a collapsed entrance. Only way in is to drop in. Rappelled into entrance. Walk into enormous room and greeted by house sized boulder. Looks small compared to rest of the room. Rotten staircases, lighting fixtures from previous life of the cave. Collapsed in 70s. 

Then went to pig hole cave. 120 ft drop, vertical fissure opens to outside. Beautiful places like Queens bath. Exited via manhole. Melanie gets credit for putting trip together.

Mike Y presented other groups experience. Initial leads werent able to make it. MY stepped up to lead. Tawneys first. First cave for a number of people. Found a new passage. Ran into second group of arborists wearing converse and crocs. Good beginners trip. Navigable and mostly horizontal. TT added for Tawneys excited to bring new folks in. Found interesting crawl. Convinced newbies to follow. Melanie says TT and MY gave new attendees a good time.

March 30 TAG (Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia)

Mike B and Lisa went on this trip. 4 days. Group of 5. Stayed at cavers paradise outside of Salani. Larsons well. Have to pull a permit to access. Private but cavers allowed. Attacked by puppies. Waterfall. Second day was Caybills(?) cavern. MB wnet first. Got good pics of Lisa coming down. Went to OSuth Pittsburg pit. Near town of south pittsbur, at edge of park. Decided vibe wasnt right. Pulled out and will come back next time. Ran into the Howie.

April 05 Tawneys, Links, New River, Pig Hole

Rudy presented. Cow skull on a stick. Rudy enjoyed the trip and the group. Stayed at bat ranch.

April 12 Low Moor Ladder trip

Mark D presented. Recovered old ladder. Replaced w new ladder. 8 attended. Anchors went in fine. Matthew designated navigator. Did good job getting to ladder room and then to fossil room. Future project may be log jam in river and mowing field.

April 19 Pilot Mountain Climbing Trip

Climbed howdy dude. Jacob presented. Pole dancing highlighted as a good climb. Cat’s first climbing trip. MB and L made her feel comfortable tying the knots.

Melanie did another trip report. NBC(?)

830 UPCOMING TRIPS

May 3 Worleys Bluff City TN. Jacob organizing

May 9-11: Spring VAR Spruce Knob WV Out of Bounds Grotto

June 21-28 NSS Convention Cobleskill NY- Mark Stephan Jacob going

Aug 1 – 3 Annual grotto trip, Blue Meadows Campground White Sulfure Springs WV

Aug 9 Boy Scout Troop Trip Butler(?) VA; Lisa thinks need another VCCS person to help. Room for 3 or 4 trips. If there is room for tritrogs, Lisa will let group know.

TBD Mammoth Cave Grotto Trip KY

Melanie planning caving trip sometime in the next month. Plenty of opportunities to survey. Theres a dig to bypass sump. Worked on since the 90s. Fix ladder. Graffiti. Big river. Good formations. SW VA. Buchanan cave salt peter

836 Cat presenting Cave Jeopardy 

Team Cave Sluts vs Team Godzilla

Lava tubes, troglobites, hypothermia, Talus Cave, Column, Krubera in Georgia, Cave bacon, Speleology, Chimney, Karst topography, Carbonic acid, Minimum 4 for caving trip, Cave of crystals, garbage bag can prevent hypothermia in cave, trogloxenes, prehistoric cave paintings, orange salamander, cave crayfish, soda straws, dissolution aka chemical weathering, , limestone, Pit, Shouting “Rock”, Glowworms, Mammoth cave, Stalactites, , carry three light sources, caver, bats

903 Round 2 of Jeopardy next meeting. Godzillas won first round. Cave sluts $6600 and Godzillas at $7600

Godzillas- Stephan, Mark D, Taylor T, Mike B, Mike Y, Lisa, Zeke, Taylor O

Sluts- Everyone else

Beers at Raleigh Times after meeting

2.25.25 Tritrogs Meeting Minutes

In attendance: ~15 in-person. 6 persons online

Secretary- Taylor O.

Hancock Cave Bat Countin’ No Fountain Trip report. Weekend of Feb 15, WV.

President Taylor called meeting to order.

~735 to 745 Introductions- favorite cave snack. Peanut M&Ms, protein bars, anything one can ingest (Stephan), peanut butter, Snicker bars, dark chocolate cran kind bars, chicken sandwich, Costco brownie protein bar, rice crispy treat, trail mix, Clif bar or beef jerky, canned fruit cups, 3Cs- cashews, cranberries and chocolate chips, PB and J sandwiches, jerky, PB bars, subway sandwich, loose almonds, jerky, gummi worms

Business 

Aug 9- Boy Scout Caving Request Stephan- got contacted by BSA, got email. How have we done that in the past. Would like to go caving that weekend Aug 9. Open to suggestions of which cave. Lisa says has taken scouts into butler cave and it has gone well. Stephen will fwd email and introduce to guy who contacted. Depends how far they are willing ot drive. Ken pointed out web page we have that has instruction for youth group trip.

~749 Logo Creation Kat says that was something she was curious about. Apparently there are two floating around. Logo has a dinosaur. Some interest in shirts w logo on it. Ken says Rob did those 11 years ago

~751 Officer’s Meeting March 10 TT says location TBD. Officers will meet and get acquainted. Discuss certain items like masking policy and shirt orders. Get donation figured out. Plan grotto trip. Anyone is welcome to come to it, not just officers. 

-Nick needs to update officer names on website.

Trip Reports 

~753 Pine Hill- pics shared, shovel eater in germany valley, hamilton and new trap the next day. Explored new trout until it was gross. Next went to Kentucky, first cave was pine hill, supposed to drop into vertical, but just did horizontal, went swimming. Then went to Bowmans

Bowmans Cave covered in gypsum and sandy, surveyed lead/passage. Gotta go back. 30 hour trip and camped in cave, 2 hrs from entrance. Cave was supposed to be dry, but there was big waterfall. Flooding. Explorers got soaked on hike to cave.

Hancock Bat Count video shared of active water running. Matthew gave trip report. Said it was wettest they have ever seen. Sumping everywhere. Slept at Tanya’s. Sleeting in morning which turned to rain. Ken rigged the entrance like a gentle sir. Rest of group arrived and slid into mudslide that was the Hancock entrance. Started doing bat count. Found two bats almost immediately. Checked out flushing toilet bowls which were full of water. One group was with Matt Jenkins. Part of fun of caving is exploring. Root room was objective. Both potential passages have ramp of mud, 50ft down to roiling water. Third passage was goldilocks. Count then got up to 5. Matthew got his feet soaked and said a swear. Taylor tibbs could hear it along with the other groups. Matthew’s feet kept slipping and he needed help getting out. Amazing formations. 100 yr rain event. Bridges washed out and parts of the road. Came out. Mexican restaurant and headedhome.

Ken shared his version via tritrogs website.

Ken got stuck and had others pull out blue hand line that wasnt there. Carved out footholds with chisel. Toilet bowls normally empty. Overflowing. A lot more cave to explore at lower levels when not flooded.

Matthew was last to leave the cave. Piotr had a time getting out of the cave. Came slipping back in. Make sure you rig a handline before going in.

Upcoming Trips/Events 

March 1 & 8: New River Jacob. Back to back new river trips. Currently about 8 people

March 15: Worley’s 3 or 4 expressed interest thus far. Best way to express interest is through discord channel and after meeting

March 29- 30: Tawneys, Giant’s, & Pig Hole Malanie beginner friendly vertical caves. Trip is pretty full. Grotto would need to purchase vertical gear. Trip capped currently

April 19: Low Moor Ladder Trip TT is leading. Day before emilys bday and Easter. Bats hibernating. Ladder chilling in TT’s apartment. Goal of trip is to replace ladder spanning 10 ft pit. Open cave, not a lot of crawling. Potentially graffiti cleaning. Ken says unlikely VAR will do anything this spring

May 9 -11 Spring VAR  there is a FB page. Discord channel hasnt been started yet for it. TT will share link for registering. Ken says Sruce Knob in WV so 7 or 8 hr drive.

Lisa(?) Taylor climbing trip potentially at Table Rock. Some sport and some trad. Camping and parking lot are not open. Mike and Lisa were discussing. Alternative would be climb at Pilot mountain (crowded) and camp nearby. It is top ropeable. There is some lead. Moderate to advanced. Tritrogs and friend of Taylor discussion, any objections changing to pilot mtn. Lis awill make a date for some time in April or May. Will set up on Discord to figure out weekends. Can set up like summer tritrogs camping trip. Will need to see if Scoliokie(?) campground has space.

~821 took break. Return at 830 David asked Question asked if new river trip is new river cave. Traditional end point or far back. Going to far back. Mar 8th is more beginner friendly. Keep things before water fall

Program 

~831 Forest Service Program Update

Stephan updated us on the forest service program. Last year in Oct had Jason Holifield from US Forest Service presented at grotto meeting to establish relationship/cooperation; informal meeting to see what is there. 

All parties interested, but would need a project. SF says has worked a little bit on that. 

In Jan contacted folks in western NC (Flittermouse grotto). For a potential ridge walking, cave (re)discovery project, to identify cave locations, and use them for future exploration and mapping. If you know where are caves, you can use that info to further explore area. 

In national forest is main interest. Ken says US forest service and national forest may not be the same. NSS has started doing web meetings every two months. SF used opportunity to present early stage idea of project. Got contact back for when that goes to more serious idea.- Lee-Gray. 

Did bat counts in Jan 31st and Feb. 24th with Scott and Wildlife Service. Might help to protect area with nearby housing development in progress. Mtn split perfect for fracture cave. Walked along hillside w no discernible path, until bulldozed area was reached. Wildlife service is particular about how to enter cave when counting bats. Dont use your own gear. Boots and cavesuits and other gear provided to avoid cross contamination.

Might have 3 party meeting with Tritrogs, Flittermouse Grotto, and Charlotte Cave Club group to explore what we want to do. There might be some funds. Sometime in spring.

Project Ideas- Ridgewalking / cave re discovery in national forest areas. Locate promising areas based on existing caves and/or LIDAR data. Recent hurricane damage. SF is open to ideas/input from others to develop ideas for projects on national forest areas.

Reviewed map of caves in NC by county. Most are in western half of NC. Reviewed map of National Forests in NC.Croatoan NF is a swamp. Uwharrie NF is closest but mostly volcanic. There is a legend about a bootlegger than dig a cave.

Pisgah and Nantahala NFs have potential. They have caves. Western NC.

Mines are off limit and we are not concerned with those.

SF says need to keep in mind recent hurricane in area, and that will make travel difficult in more rural areas. Also changeover in government agencies

After meeting Beer/Seltzer/Food at Raleigh Times.

-TO needs to get access to WordPress website. Ken says make sure to link to secretary page on website to upload minutes. Check with T Tibbs.